Nintendo · 2012–2017

NintendoWii U

Nintendo's two-screen experiment left behind an unforgettable library: Bayonetta 2, Tropical Freeze, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and The Wind Waker HD.

[n] Wii U games in stockBlue cases, short prints, red-band Selects

Shop all Wii U games Complete in case

Why it mattered

The console nobody understood with the library everybody wanted later

Nintendo followed the best-selling console of its era with a tablet controller, a name that sounded like an accessory and a launch ad campaign that left shoppers asking whether it was a new Wii. It was, in fact, Nintendo's first HD console, and it sold about 13 million units in four years — less than the Wii managed in a good eighteen months. Major third-party support faded after the early years, leaving Nintendo and a smaller group of partners to build much of the Wii U's most memorable library. What remained was Nintendo, mostly alone, making Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon, Bayonetta 2, Mario Maker and Breath of the Wild for a small, loyal room.

Some Wii U releases have become sought-after collectibles, while others received Nintendo Selects reprints or found new audiences on Switch. For collectors, the edition and what's included matter. Original blue cases, printed inserts, and special editions can make a difference, so check each listing's photos and condition details.

How we grade and photograph

Fast facts

ReleasedNovember 18, 2012 (North America, first)
Launch price$299 Basic (8 GB) / $349 Deluxe (32 GB, Nintendo Land)
Media25 GB Wii U optical disc; plays Wii discs too
Units sold~13.5 million — Nintendo's lowest-selling home console
Best sellerMario Kart 8 — ~8.5 million, on 60% of all Wii Us sold
Did you know?The Wii U's GamePad streams the game from the console over a 5 GHz wireless link with almost no lag, but only to about 25 feet, and only one GamePad was ever supported at once. Nintendo announced two-GamePad play at E3 2012 and then never shipped a game that used it. Replacement GamePads were sold only in Japan, so a console with a working one is the whole deal.
Did you know?Wii U is the only Nintendo console that plays its predecessor's discs in full: every Wii game runs in "Wii Mode," with Wii Remotes and the sensor bar. It does not play GameCube discs — Nintendo removed that — though the hardware's GameCube ancestry is why the Smash Bros. GameCube adapter exists.
Did you know?Nintendo published Bayonetta 2 itself after Sega dropped it, then packed the first Bayonetta on a second disc in the retail box. The later single-disc reprint dropped Bayonetta 1, so the two-disc first print is the version collectors look for, and our listings say which one you are getting.
Did you know?Mario Kart 8 sold about 8.5 million copies on a console that sold 13.5 million — well over half of all Wii U owners bought it. It was also the first Mario Kart with paid DLC (Link, Animal Crossing, the F-Zero track), all of which was folded into the Switch's Deluxe version two years later.
Did you know?Nintendo Selects reprints reached the Wii U in 2016 at $19.99, with a red band down the side of the case: Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, Nintendo Land, Wind Waker HD and a handful more. Because the console was dying, those Selects runs were short too, and some now cost more than the black-label originals they replaced.
Did you know?Xenoblade Chronicles X originally offered four optional high-speed data packs to reduce loading times. These could be installed on internal or USB storage, but Nintendo has since discontinued the downloads.
Did you know?The Wii U is region-locked, and Nintendo of America skipped several games Europe got, including Fatal Frame on disc: the US release of Maiden of Black Water was download-only, while Europe got a physical Limited Edition. It is why Wii U import copies from PAL territories keep turning up in American collections.
Did you know?Breath of the Wild launched on the Wii U and the Switch on the same day, March 3, 2017. Production of the Wii U had already ended that January, so the console's last major game is also the first game of the console that replaced it — and the Wii U version, in the blue case, is now the scarcer of the two.

THE SHELVES WII U GAMES WORTH REMEMBERING

Hand-picked shelves, filled live from what is in stock right now. Best condition first — jump to a condition below.

Counts are listings in stock — the same game can appear more than once in different packaging.

The grails

Cult favorites, unusual releases, and sought-after Wii U editions that collectors still love discovering.

Nintendo, mostly alone

Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Mario Maker, Nintendo Land, Hyrule Warriors — the first-party run that carried a console nobody else was making games for.

It came with a portal

Skylanders Swap Force, SuperChargers, Imaginators, Disney Infinity, LEGO Dimensions, Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival — sold with plastic figures, usually arriving without them, and we say so on the listing.

The brick shelf

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Batman 3, LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, LEGO City Undercover — Traveler's Tales stayed on the Wii U to the end, which is more than most did.

The Wii U also got it

Assassin's Creed III and IV, Mass Effect 3, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Arkham City, Call of Duty, Darksiders II, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 — the third-party ports of 2012 and 2013, before the third parties left.

Bring the kids

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, Hello Kitty Kruisers, Wipeout 3, Rabbids Land, Adventure Time, Penguins of Madagascar, Barbie — the Wii U's family shelf, a smaller room than the Wii's but the same furniture.

The U shelf

New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Wii Fit U, Wii Party U, ZombiU, Wii Sports Club — Nintendo put a U on the end of everything, and Ubisoft joined in once.

Counted in Roman

Assassin's Creed III. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Darksiders II. Trine 2 wishes it had. The Wii U's numerals, the old way — Roman only, no Arabic allowed.

Red band, Nintendo Selects

Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, Nintendo Land, Wind Waker HD, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze — the $19.99 reprints with the red stripe, printed late and briefly, and the black-label first prints they sit beside.

Later sold to you again on Switch

Wii U favorites that later found new audiences on Switch. Explore the original editions that started it all.

Complete in case, best condition first

Explore complete-in-case Wii U games currently in stock, selected for condition and ready for your collection.

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Game with manual

Original game disc and manual, without the original case. Check the listing for exact contents.

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Loose discs

Disc only — tested, photographed, priced accordingly.

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Sealed

Factory sealed and photographed through the shrink.

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NintendoWii U

The console nobody understood with the library everybody wanted later